


Synth Detective, Diamond Boy, and Miss Rose MK in: End of the Road

by StarryEyedKiddo



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Gen, Institute Ending's Canon, Pulp-Fiction style
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2018-12-18 11:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11873508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryEyedKiddo/pseuds/StarryEyedKiddo
Summary: The year's 2278, and with The Brotherhood and The Railroad lost to the winds of time, the Institute has risen from the Underworld to claim the Commonwealth for its empire. It's been a lot to take in for an old synth, and fate had more in store for the detective and his associates. A Vault Dweller in a box, kidnap, and it all leads Nick back to the last place he wanted to go with the last person he wanted to see. However, there's still some unfinished business Valentine needs to attend to, and it's the end of the road.





	1. Chapter 1

The name's Nicolaus Valentine, though most people in this joint just call me Nick. There's always the few who call me otherwise, like 'Nicky' or the wise-ass who thinks calling me 'synth' is an insult, but 'Nick' seems to be the status quo. Living in the Commonwealth tends to expose a person to a lot of adventures, whether they want to or not. Sometimes these opportunities appear out of thin air, and sometimes they begin when another journey ends. The latter was the case; an excursion I had to endure not too long ago.

It started on a June afternoon in the streets of the Great Green Jewel itself, Diamond City. The sun beat down on the city mercilessly, and I felt pity for my human neighbors. Having coolant instead of blood running throughout you does have its advantages, I suppose. It wasn’t just the August heat that was making the folks of Diamond City antsy, though. Things had changed a whole lot in the past few months, but hardly in a way anyone expected or wished for. To think it had almost been a year since she came, and the reminders of the consequences patrolled the Commonwealth with laser pistols and electric batons, leaving Diamond City even more paranoid than before. Hell, even if I weren’t a detective, it’d be dense of me to not notice the prolonged, fearful glances at who (or _what_ ) I was.

So when the Agency door opened, I steeled myself for another angry man playing hard-guy, bowing up to blame me for the actions of a past-associate. Thankfully, I was only met with a familiar and friendly face. I should’ve guessed Marco would’ve stopped in by then, he always did make a point of visiting around this time. That, and he had recently gotten a habit of knocking twice. Must’ve picked it up from somewhere.

“Good afternoon, Nick!” The boy, he was really something else. He felt genuine and kind, traits that were hard to find in such a callous city. Even so, his company is always welcome here at the agency. “Hoo, another day, right? How’re you doing?” I chuckled.

“Haven’t fallen apart or been booted out yet, so it ain’t too bad. How ‘bout you, pal?” He smiled and shrugged. I leaned over on the desk as he walked over towards me. “You know, I’ve seen a few of those little doodles you made, Piper would probably love to put them in the paper.”

“I dunno, McDonough kinda wants to kick my ass already…” Marco made a face. “But, then again, when did I care about his opinions? Next time I see her, maybe I’ll ask. Thanks!” He reached into his bag as he sat down and pulled out the paper pad he kept with him. “Speaking of which, I have some new things in there! Wanna see?” I obliged and we looked through while discussing recent happenings in the Commonwealth. “Speakin’ of Publik Occurrences, did you see their recent article?”

“You just read it? Marco, that’s been out since May.” He flushed at the realization he’d been a little late and I patted his back consolingly. “I understand, things here have been hectic and you lose track of time.” He nodded and let out a sigh.

“Can’t believe it’s only been a few months, Nick. Sometimes it feels like they’ve been here forever.” I still remembered how distraught he was that spring day. I found it ironic that with all the good luck touted about the month of May that it would also mark a new reign of terror over Boston. All the poor kid had known was he had fallen asleep and woke up to see that the Commonwealth’s Boogeyman now ruled over the land. His mother had told me he had cried for at least a half hour after he learned the news. It was good to know he had calmed down a bit by the time I got there, but he was still scared to wits ends and McDonough's fear-mongering didn’t help matters much. Marco had bounced back quick thankfully, I still knew quite a few people who were still shell-shocked over the whole thing, and now made time to know what was happening and waiting for the day this would all be over. I shared in that sentiment, even if I wasn’t one to dwell too much on the past (at least, what I can remember of it).

“On a different note, think you could help me out with somethin’?”

“Another case, Nick?” He looked up grinning and I had to chuckle at his enthusiasm.

“No, nothing quite as exciting, I got a few things I bought from a caravan that came in recently but I haven’t gotten the time to unpack. I was hoping you could help with inventory, make sure I got the right numbers for things.” I motioned over to a few crates by the desk. “I’d normally ask Ellie to help, but she’s on break visiting family back home.”

“Ooh, I’ve been meaning to stop back by Goodneighbor sometime! Anyways, what’d ya get?”

“List’s on the desk. I gotta go upstairs, take a quick break. Holler if you need anything.” I walked up and out the door to stand outside and marvel at the cityscape set before me. Diamond City; had to admit, despite its flaws, it ain't a half-bad place to live. Although, it still pained me to see the Institute flags wave high above, casting a shadow as a reminder of who was always watching upon the people of the Commonwealth and the worst joke of them all was that I _knew_ who now had everything in the palm of her hand. She had been close, and for a while I considered her too close. I breathed out a cloud of smoke, noting to myself that I really needed to kick my smoking habit. It was just another imprint of Nick on my positronic brain, that and cigarettes were getting too expensive. I needed to save my caps to keep the Agency running. 

“Nick!” I heard Marco call me from inside. “Uh, how much did you pay for the stuff in total?”

“About 50 caps. Why?” There was a short pause. “Marco?”

“Hoo boy. Uh, there aren’t any clipboards in here. Like, at all. There’s a... actually can you come here?” I extinguished my cigarette and walked back in to see Marco staring at a closed crate.

“Marco, did you even open it?” “Yeah, I did! But the minute I did, the lid closed again so I thought maybe you could try?” We looked at each other for a while, and I hoped he’d realize that plan wasn’t the most foolproof. “I mean, I’ll be here just in case, but I’ve tried.”

“Way to hand it off, kiddo.” I moved the lid and came face to face with not my ordered clipboards, but a doe-eyed dame with curly brown locks. She blinked hard, adjusting to the light and I wondered how long she had been in there. Too long, I felt.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a palpable silence as the three of us started putting together that there was a person in a crate. “You uh, need some help outta there?” I made sure to put my good hand out, remembering the last time I offered someone my bad hand. The dame’s shriek really knocked some of my hearing out for a week.

“I, um, no, I’m okay,” she replied, tripping over her words. She shifted her body, seemingly trying to tip over the box, to little avail. “Um… thank you.” She took my hand and we managed to free her.

The first thing I noticed was her garb. It's hard to mistake that glorified onesie for anything other than a Vault Tec vault suit. As she turned around, trying to pick splinters from her body, I saw the number 81 plastered on her back in yellow. That explained a lot; Vault 81 seemed to be the only vault around that still housed human beings instead of ghouls or radroaches.

“Holy shit, you’re a Vaultie!” Marco stared in astonishment. “Damn, I haven’t seen one of ya’ll since-” He paused and glanced at me, seemingly trying to apologize for bringing her back up. I had thought I was the only one who remembered the last Vault Dweller we met, though granted she came from a very different vault under very different circumstances. Thinking about her though brought back too many memories, opened too many wounds. We don’t talk about her much now. “Anyways,” he continued, “I’m Marco! Welcome to Diamond City! We’ve got noodles, a wall, our own newspaper, and the best detective in the Commonwealth! And you are?”

“Um, hey, Marco! I'm Rose. T-this is Diamond City?” Her eyes darted around the room, taking in the unfamiliar sights. Her gaze finally fell on me, her attention obviously on my more… inhuman features. “I thought that Diamond City was all ‘humans only’ and stuff.”

“Well, I’ve almost been given the boot on account of some people mistaking me for a very sick ghoul, but otherwise I don’t face many issues here. So, question now is how you managed to get in the crate and end up here? Cause I don’t think this was an unplanned excursion.” Especially considering all the places this Vault Dweller could’ve ended up. She easily could’ve ended up shipped off to Goodneighbor, and that was the best case scenario. Either the memories of her plight were treacherous or it was something I said because soon her eyes widened like lamplights.

“Uh, I don’t wanna sound rude or anything but, a-are you a synth?” Her voice cracked with anxiousness and she began to fidget with her hands. Oh, so that was it. Honestly I really should’ve seen the question coming considering folks from 81 had a penchant for not getting out much. Hey, at least the little lady hadn’t started screaming yet, I could give her that.

“The name’s Nick Valentine, if you were curious. Diamond City’s own ‘synth detective.’” I had grown used to the fact that people were going to be apprehensive at first, but it wasn’t gonna speed the process up if I was nasty about it. “How long have you been in that crate?”

She bit her lip, her mind trying to piece together an answer. “It's hard to tell,” she replied, not looking at either me nor Marco in the eye. “It was… two days? Maybe three or four? I don't know.”

“Geez, went without food that long? Yikes.” Marco put two hands up to his mouth. “Hang on, I could go pick something up from Power Noodles for ya, you like noodles, right?” He said it as if it was fine either way, even if he was almost at the door. There was no denying it, the boy loved noodles almost more than life itself. “Nick, you want any?”

“Just send Takahashi my greetings, pal. Hey, maybe you could bring our new friend with you so she can stretch her legs. Hard to tell how long she’s been curled up in there.” The boy nodded and motioned for the girl to follow him. As they left, I caught the girl looking back at me, her expression unreadable. Fear? Confusion? But she was gone in an instant, out into the bustling streets of the Diamond City marketplace, before I could figure her out.

I began to look through my files to see if anyone from Vault 81 had filed a Missing Persons in recent days, although I didn’t remember anyone stopping by. I’d like to think I haven’t been banged up to the point of not being able to remember if I had met the poor girl’s parents, and was met with nothing in the case files. 81 was a little ways anyways, so I was going to give it time. I began to wonder if I should ask if she knew anyone here; I wasn’t about to leave her out in the open with no way to go, and a chill ran up my spine at the thought of what sort of paranoia would stir up over a stranger entering without being seen at the gates. Not to mention the fact that the townsfolk’s aversion to outsiders had grown faster than tatos with the synth patrols, and they had become especially suspicious of vault dwellers. I sure hope Marco figured something out, or at least lent the poor dame a coat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaa, it's been a while! I'll try to update more.

I began constructing a file for the Vault girl, hoping to start piecing together whether this was a run-away or a kidnapping. I had gotten finished with the details when I heard the door open.

“-yeah, as I was saying, she probably was acting up cause I was there and I associate with Nick, so you know.” He made a face and gestured with his hands. “But hey, ‘least the dress fits, right?”

“Yeah, and thank you again!” responded Rose, smiling. “I've never gotten to wear anything like this before! It's so comfortable!” It was then that we finally locked eyes again. “Oh. Um… hi, Nick.”

“How do you do?” I replied. “Anyways, I was meaning to ask, do you have any family in Diamond City?”

She shook her head. “No, everyone is back in the vault.”

“Well, until we can get you back with your folks, you’re welcome to stay here.” I pointed down the hall. “Bed’s down there.”

Her eyes grew wide. “W-what? I don't want to be a nuisance and get in your way, I have some caps, I could…”

“Only place I can think of to rent a bed’s the Dugout Inn. I mean, I guess 10 caps a night is cheap, but…” Marco let out a whistle. “You dunno how long you’ll be there and it’s kinda connected to a bar.”

"Along with that, I highly doubt Bobrov could resist offering you some of his swill. And by the looks of you, I don't take you to be the heavy drinking type." Especially considering her short stature. I've seen grown men fall to the ground like newborn Brahmin just from one glass, one sip would probably do her in. '"Sides, I don't mind at all. Unless you decide to get junked up or something." The dame looked almost offended, her eyes widening and face blanching.

“What?! No, no, I don't use Chems! That's, you know..." She couldn't find the words, but I knew she wasn't amused by the thought of it. Marco jumped to my rescue.

"He didn't mean anything by it, it's just that the scent sticks to literally everything so he's not a real big fan of it."

"That, and I know what those sorta things can do to a person." I had too many cases involving Chems. It usually resulted in a bad ending. "Anyways, you stayin'?" She looked aside and thought for a minute. The time seemed to slow a little before she nodded.

"I just wanna thank you again for this, Mr. Valentine. I'm really sorry I have to encr-" I put a hand up.

"Oh no, there's no need to apologize, but the thanks is appreciated. I've had quite a few people come in with worse manners."

"Yeah, and Nick let's me stay all the time anyways. Having people sleep in the guest room's just par for the course." He smiled and patted her on the back. "Anyway, Vaultie, the bed's pretty comfy, but that's just my feeling. If you need anything, just lemme know!" He grabbed out a sheet of paper and began sketching out a very basic map of the city. "My house is about here, you just take a left at Power Noodles and take a right at this sign. You'll know it's my house cause we got a little tube on the door-frame." I smiled and hoped that Rose was better at keeping track of landmarks than actual names of streets. She nodded, seeming to understand what he meant a little bit. "Feel free to stop by anytime! My Mom's pretty chill, she likes meeting new friends of mine."

"Speaking of your mother, she know you're here?" Marco looked over at me and made a face.

"'Course she does! And even if she didn't, you know I'm pretty much an adult now!"

"Of course. You're all grown up, forgive an old private eye for his spotty memory." I chuckled, ruffling his hair with my good hand. Marco laughed and looked back over at her. 

"I've known him since I was a little tyke. He's kinda like family to me, you know?" She nodded, eyes brightening a little.

"Yeah, my family has something like that to with Auntie Margaret! She's one of my Mom's friends, but they feel like sisters so..." Rose paused and her face went pale. "Oh God, I hope my parents aren't mad at me." The uncomfortable silence was palpable in the thick air. 

"In my experience as a detective, your family's more likely worried for you than angry at you." She nodded slowly, but I knew guilt was still eating at her. Clearly, this was leaning more towards a runaway rather than a kidnapping. When you're in this field, you learn the small signs pointing to one or the other in these cases. I put a hand on her shoulder and knelt to her level. Found it's a lot easier to get to people when you're not towering over them. "Hey, don't worry about it. We'll get you back home, okay?" 

Her words seemed to get caught in her throat, since her response was nothing more than a nod and a quiet “okay.” Marco patted her shoulder and squeezed gently, an attempt on his part to comfort her, even just a little. “I… I think I’ll go to sleep now. It’ll be nice to spend a night in a bed instead of a box, you know? T-Thanks again, Nick.”

“It’s no problem, Natalie. You take as much time as you need, and we can talk about this in the morning when you’re ready. We’ll get ya home.” She nodded and trudged back to the guest room, gently closing the door behind her. I looked over to my younger friend. “How’re you holding up, kiddo?”

“Good, it’s just that,” he sighed, looking over at the closed door pensively, “I feel bad, you know? I mean, yeah I’ve thought about running from home a lot when I was younger but… You know, I never got far. Her on the other hand… Shit must be scary when you’re out here with nobody. I just hope it’ll all turn out okay.” Marco had a big heart, but it was times like these that I worried for him a little. He tended to get himself into other people’s emotions, which is a good trait to have, but it’d sometimes envelope him to the point of anxiousness and tears. Kid’s been getting better with age, but habit dictates I keep an eye on him to help pull him out.

“We’ll do our best, and this seems to be pretty clean cut. C’mere, I’ll show you what I got.” I motioned him to come to the desk. I sat down while he jumped and took a seat on the desk, seeming to be a little better. “Now, thankfully our dame has some identification on where she most likely came from. All we gotta do is take her back to the Vault and return her to her family. Vault Security will most likely know who her parents are, and she’ll be reunited with her folks, safe and sound.” I leaned back in the chair, “The only thing we don’t have right now is a motive and how no one managed to find her before us.” Marco leaned back and sighed in thought.

“A lotta Vault Dwellers from there usually leave ‘cause they wanna see the outside, so that could be our motive. As for how no one found her…” Marco shrugged. “No idea, I mean, I’d think someone would notice something was off, right? Clipboards are much lighter than a human being.”

“Then again, there’re a lot of people out there who would let a body pass under their noses if it meant caps in their pocket.” I could feel a tremor at the memory of quite a few cases where that rang true. Marco must’ve noticed something cross my face cause he soon had his arms outstretched slightly. He usually offered hugs when he thought someone wasn’t feeling real swell, and this was no exception. Granted, I wasn’t feeling that awful, but I thought he could also use the comfort as well. He leaned his weight on me a little and pressed his face into my shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me. “Sure you’re doing alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good. You just seemed a little down, so I thought you could use a hug.” I held him a little tighter, kid really was a good one. I let go and ruffled his hair playfully. “Wish I could stay a little longer, but it’s Friday so…”

“I know. Hey, Marco?” He turned to look at me, “I gotta admit that it’s been awhile since I last visited your folks. How about I walk you home?” Marco grinned and nodded as he pulled his shoes on. I grabbed the keys off of the hook and the two of us began our walk after I locked the Agency door.

The skies were blue and clear, leaving an almost surreal feeling in the square. Marco and I had jumped to the topic of a recent book he had found and lent to me (“Did you get to the part where…”) when a shout sounded from somewhere. A very familiar shout. I could see Marco flush up slightly at the words being hurled in my direction, and I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“C’mon, it’s not worth anyone with manners getting hurt.” I pulled him away quickly as we turned down another street. 

“How can you let them say that to you, Nick?” His brows were furrowed as his face read confusion and anger. He felt a moral obligation to stick up for others, telling me it was his duty with his people’s history, but I wasn’t about to let the kid get into a fight with any sort of possible lunatic. Diamond City’s safe, but not safe enough for someone not to pull something. I don’t think I could stand the thought of something happening to the boy on my watch.

“I wasn’t in the mood to get in a fight with them. ‘Sides, I have better places to be than back there arguing with a stranger.” Marco dropped the subject, mouth pressed into a hard line. “I’m okay, kiddo. Let’s not waste our energy on them.” He sighed and leaned into my side as we stood in the alleyway. It wouldn't have been the first time anyone had shouted something distasteful in my direction, but it had been the first time in a long time. We soon began our walk again.

We soon came up on his home, the chatter inside leaking into the street. The house was a decent size, which was good for tonight since there were more folks here than usual. Marco knocked on the door, which was soon opened by his sister.

“Marco, there you are! Mom was about to send me to get you.”

“You know I’d get back in time.” Marco smiled, though it was a little strained. I knew from experience that his sister tended to behave more like a mother than a sibling and Marco found himself more likely agitated by it as he grew older. I tipped my hat at her in greeting as we walked in, and I was soon enveloped in the aroma of home-cooking. “Hey, Mom! Look who’s here!” The boy ran over and hugged his Mom who looked over at me with a smile.

“Hey, stranger!” It was a whirlwind of greetings from there, bouncing through family members and talking about how life had been treating us since we had seen each other last. “Should I have the kids put a place for you?”

“I’d love to, Mrs. Solomon, but I sadly best be heading off. Have a case to attend to. Believe me, I wish I could stay.” 

“Well, you’re welcome to come by anytime. I hope your case goes well.” She smiled as Marco went to give me a parting hug. 

“Should I stop by tomorrow?” I smiled and ruffled his hair.

“I could always use a second hand. Sure, kiddo. Take care.” I departed and started the walk back home. The sky had grown a little darker, stars now pinpricks against the Commonwealth sky. There was a time at some point that I had taken that sky for granted, but after that, I've learned to appreciate it a little more. There was a calm and an uneasiness as I walked. Despite my comforts to Marco, the man did get to me a little bit. After the Institute took over, some people have become a little more bold in expressing their disdain towards me. I usually try to let it run off like water on a duck's back, but sometimes it gets you. It was enough to leave an old synth on edge sometimes, which was thankfully unneeded this time. I opened the door to quiet, Rose must still be asleep. I walked quietly back the desk and continued my work.


End file.
